July 21, 2006

The Honorable Buddy Dyer
Mayor, City of Orlando
400 South Orange Avenue, 3rd Floor
Orlando, FL 32802

Dear Mayor Dyer:

I am writing to express my personal concern regarding the adoption of the proposed Public Feeding Ordinance, amending Section 18A.01 of the Code of the City of Orlando. Please allow me to articulate a few reasons for opposing such an ordinance.

For more than 14 months, the Mayor's Working Committee on Homelessness researched issues surrounding homelessness and presented 23 recommendations on ways to address this community issue, working toward its end in 2014. One recommendation was, "The City should control/manage public meal distribution/feeding programs throughout Downtown Orlando through educational programs and appropriate ordinances."

Even though others may feel this specific ordinance may be "appropriate" for the downtown community, many issues surrounding this recommendation have changed while no educational program has been established in conjunction with such a restrictive ordinance.

For almost four years, I have seen the City of Orlando's appropriations for Social Services decrease or remain the same. While each agency deeply appreciates the City's contribution to their endeavors, this financial assistance has not kept pace with the dynamic growth of our Great City, nor has it reflected the annual increase in our budget. During this same period, there has been a rising need for local services for our homeless and impoverished, especially in the downtown corridor, so in short, they have to do more with less.

Furthermore, the rapid increase of the population in the downtown area has created a chasm between the "haves" and "have nots," placing public policy at a crossroads between defending the stakeholders of downtown against those without an effective voice. I believe the ultimate motivating force behind city policy should be to bridge this divide rather than to expand it.

In another way, this ordinance appears to criminalize the good-hearted behavior of thousands in our community who have supported those that our city has either ignored or disregarded. It also identifies our at-risk population as lawbreakers. This action may set our community back in its aggressive effort toward finding solutions, not only to the problem of homelessness itself, but to the factors that cause homelessness, such as lack of affordable housing, mental health and substance abuse issues.

With the passage of this ordinance, feeding the homeless will be prohibited in parks, but what quantitative data do we have which shows that this will decrease the number of instances where park visitors are approached by people who appear homeless? The ordinance may contribute to the homeless migrating into other areas of our community, but it provides no sound structure for solving this important issue.

This lack of compassion for those most in need, along with the criminalizing of poverty, also sends a message to surrounding jurisdictions that Orlando doesn't care. More importantly, it creates an atmosphere where cooperation between cities and counties will be more difficult than ever.

If there were only one way to enter into homelessness, then the solution would be simple. If there were no hungry people in our city, then we could avoid such an ordinance altogether. If this ordinance passes, and helping others becomes a crime, then we will have violators all over the city whose only offense is working to alleviate poverty from our shared community.

If people don't get food, it will create an atmosphere of more aggressive panhandling and scatter those in search of food throughout our entire downtown community. In my opinion, it will be counter-productive and may exacerbate an already difficult situation, creating even more confusion on how to find real solutions to the problems of homelessness.

If the situation today was that the City had done all it could to solve homelessness and hunger problems, and passage of this ordinance was absolutely necessary to restore order in downtown, then I would gladly support it. However, Iím not convinced that the City has done everything reasonably possible to solve this issue, nor I am convinced that public feeding has become effectively unmanageable to the point where it warrants an ordinance. When I am, I will be the first to advocate on its behalf.

Mayor Dyer, will you please join me in opposing this ordinance until you can say with confidence that we have done everything we can to help those the city should protect, and not ignore?

I appreciate your consideration of my position. Thank you for your leadership and devotion to our Great City.

Serving Orlando together,

Robert F. Stuart

cc: Phil Diamond, Commissioner, District 1
Betty T. Wyman, Commissioner, District 2
Patty Sheehan, Commissioner, District 4
Daisy W. Lynum, Commissioner, District 5
Samuel B. Ings, Commissioner, District 6
Byron W. Brooks, Chief Administrative Officer